Re: Therapy Sessions - Do I stay in room or leave 20 month old?

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor

Im mum to five year old , who has only recently started having

structured and regular speech therapy, . there is no possibility of a two

way mirror set up where we go, and although i trust this lady emensly I jsut

feel more comfortable being there with him. like your situation, my being

there doesn't get in the way, so I stay. And at the age of 20 months,.

was also very clingy, so I would not have even dreamed of leaving him

alone in the room.

Im not sure this will help you any, but jsut wanted you to know that there

is nowt wrong with wanting to stay in the room.

good luck

Kait in Australia, mum to Gorgeous george!

-- [ ] Therapy Sessions - Do I stay in room or leave

20 month old?

Hey moms, I really need some advice!

What age do you think parents should leave their child during therapy

and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror? My

child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

My daughter Jacy is only 20 months old. She suffers from extreme

separation anxiety. This is due to numerous hospitalizations &

surgeries. I have explained this thoroughly to her SLP and still it

continues to be an issue.

I would understand if I posed a true problem by staying in the room.

However, my daughter rarely approaches me during the session, unless

the therapist gets too close to her - my daughter also has Sensory

Dysfunction and gets very nervous when someone crowds her or makes

her feel boxed in & unable to move.

I don't want to ruin my relationship with this therapist. I know she

thinks I am being an over protective mom & " first time mom " . If this

was in any way hindering my daughters progress, I would be the first

one to suggest leaving the room.

I know that doing this would cause my daughter to lose her level of

comfort that she has established with the therapy sessions. She

would be " on guard " and unable to relax when we go to the therapy

center. Not to mention the panic attacks she will have if left alone

with the therapist. She has already demonstrated several when we

tried this months ago.

I want my daughter to feel safe. I want her to make progress and I

want to be there with her. This is so important and lounging out in

the waiting room doesn't seem right.

Parents learn from the sessions and we impliment the techniques at

home. I don't want to do this, but I don't want to rock the boat.

We live in a rural area and this is the only speech therapist. My

daughter doesn't talk at all and has a severe language delay - no

jargon at all.

Are there any articles that address this issue? I would love to

print some out and give them to this lady. Does anyone have any

advice?

Thanks Everyone,

Eleanor in Alabama, mom to Jacy who is 20 months old

[Guest guest]

> Hey moms, I really need some advice!

>

> What age do you think parents should leave their child during

therapy

> and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror?

My

> child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

Eleanor-

My boys were about 24 months when they started therapies - I

absolutely stayed in the room. For the home therapies (which most

were) I stayed in the room for a few months, and as the comfort

levels with the therapists grew (the boys comfort levels and my

own), I gradually faded myself out. When I brought the Apraxic to

speech therapy (one of the only drive to services we had) - I wasn't

a distraction to him so I stayed in the room for months. As their

relationship grew, my presence was no longer needed. After five

months, I started observing through the 1 way mirror. We only had

one day of complaining about me not coming only because we broke the

routine. My son was also almost 36 months by this point.

So I guess my answer is to first go with your gut - does your

daughter need you there to feel safe and be able to than concentrate

better? She is so young - for me I'd want to be in the room until

my daughter was ready for me to be out.

Talk to the therapist - tell her what you want and what your

daughter needs. NEVER be afraid to rock the boat - you are the only

person who knows your child the best and you are your child's best

advocate.

-

[Guest guest]

STAY STAY STAY STAY STAY!!!!! What a good way to get your daughter

to hate therapy...

Pam

> Hey moms, I really need some advice!

>

> What age do you think parents should leave their child during

therapy

> and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror?

My

> child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

>

> My daughter Jacy is only 20 months old. She suffers from extreme

> separation anxiety. This is due to numerous hospitalizations &

> surgeries. I have explained this thoroughly to her SLP and still

it

> continues to be an issue.

>

> I would understand if I posed a true problem by staying in the

room.

> However, my daughter rarely approaches me during the session,

unless

> the therapist gets too close to her - my daughter also has Sensory

> Dysfunction and gets very nervous when someone crowds her or makes

> her feel boxed in & unable to move.

>

> I don't want to ruin my relationship with this therapist. I know

she

> thinks I am being an over protective mom & " first time mom " . If

this

> was in any way hindering my daughters progress, I would be the

first

> one to suggest leaving the room.

>

> I know that doing this would cause my daughter to lose her level

of

> comfort that she has established with the therapy sessions. She

> would be " on guard " and unable to relax when we go to the therapy

> center. Not to mention the panic attacks she will have if left

alone

> with the therapist. She has already demonstrated several when we

> tried this months ago.

>

> I want my daughter to feel safe. I want her to make progress and

I

> want to be there with her. This is so important and lounging out

in

> the waiting room doesn't seem right.

>

> Parents learn from the sessions and we impliment the techniques at

> home. I don't want to do this, but I don't want to rock the

boat.

> We live in a rural area and this is the only speech therapist. My

> daughter doesn't talk at all and has a severe language delay - no

> jargon at all.

>

> Are there any articles that address this issue? I would love to

> print some out and give them to this lady. Does anyone have any

> advice?

>

> Thanks Everyone,

>

> Eleanor in Alabama, mom to Jacy who is 20 months old

[Guest guest]

My son is 7.5 and I still pop in every now and then to observe. I like to make

sure I'm doing the proper techniques for home therapy and if I have any

questions the ST gives me suggestions.

[ ] Re: Therapy Sessions - Do I stay in room or

leave 20 month old?

> Hey moms, I really need some advice!

>

> What age do you think parents should leave their child during

therapy

> and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror?

My

> child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

Eleanor-

My boys were about 24 months when they started therapies - I

absolutely stayed in the room. For the home therapies (which most

were) I stayed in the room for a few months, and as the comfort

levels with the therapists grew (the boys comfort levels and my

own), I gradually faded myself out. When I brought the Apraxic to

speech therapy (one of the only drive to services we had) - I wasn't

a distraction to him so I stayed in the room for months. As their

relationship grew, my presence was no longer needed. After five

months, I started observing through the 1 way mirror. We only had

one day of complaining about me not coming only because we broke the

routine. My son was also almost 36 months by this point.

So I guess my answer is to first go with your gut - does your

daughter need you there to feel safe and be able to than concentrate

better? She is so young - for me I'd want to be in the room until

my daughter was ready for me to be out.

Talk to the therapist - tell her what you want and what your

daughter needs. NEVER be afraid to rock the boat - you are the only

person who knows your child the best and you are your child's best

advocate.

-

[Guest guest]

HI,

All i can say is, if it doesn't feel right dont do it. In a short time you

will probably never see this therapist again, the relalationship with your

daughter is for life. Jane.

[ ] Therapy Sessions - Do I stay in room or leave

20 month old?

Hey moms, I really need some advice!

What age do you think parents should leave their child during therapy

and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror? My

child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

My daughter Jacy is only 20 months old. She suffers from extreme

separation anxiety. This is due to numerous hospitalizations &

surgeries. I have explained this thoroughly to her SLP and still it

continues to be an issue.

I would understand if I posed a true problem by staying in the room.

However, my daughter rarely approaches me during the session, unless

the therapist gets too close to her - my daughter also has Sensory

Dysfunction and gets very nervous when someone crowds her or makes

her feel boxed in & unable to move.

I don't want to ruin my relationship with this therapist. I know she

thinks I am being an over protective mom & " first time mom " . If this

was in any way hindering my daughters progress, I would be the first

one to suggest leaving the room.

I know that doing this would cause my daughter to lose her level of

comfort that she has established with the therapy sessions. She

would be " on guard " and unable to relax when we go to the therapy

center. Not to mention the panic attacks she will have if left alone

with the therapist. She has already demonstrated several when we

tried this months ago.

I want my daughter to feel safe. I want her to make progress and I

want to be there with her. This is so important and lounging out in

the waiting room doesn't seem right.

Parents learn from the sessions and we impliment the techniques at

home. I don't want to do this, but I don't want to rock the boat.

We live in a rural area and this is the only speech therapist. My

daughter doesn't talk at all and has a severe language delay - no

jargon at all.

Are there any articles that address this issue? I would love to

print some out and give them to this lady. Does anyone have any

advice?

Thanks Everyone,

Eleanor in Alabama, mom to Jacy who is 20 months old

[Guest guest]

I say go with your mom's instinct. The only time that I let

go do something without me was the Special Ed preschool. Everyone

told me that she would get better after a few weeks. I believed

them. Well, she never did even after 4 months. It was the wrong

setting, and I wish I would have never left her there without me.

Now, as for therapy, I have twins who were both getting therapy

until they were 6 years old. really needed the individual

therapy, so I did have to push both girls into doing therapy alone.

However, I only did this after the therapist would meet with both

girls together for about a month. After that the therapist would

see them separately. However, some days the girls would not want to

leave me and the therapist would just work around it.

Now that is 7, she see her therapist by herself all the time.

However, we've known this therapist for 3 years. I consider her a

friend of the family now. We've met for social occasions. She has

daughters that are 8 and 9, and my girls like her daughters.

Good luck! Remember, Mom knows best!

> Hey moms, I really need some advice!

>

> What age do you think parents should leave their child during

therapy

> and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror?

[Guest guest]

Hello!!

I think the best advice is to listen to your instincts. You know your child

better than ANYONE, and you know what they are capable of.

When my son first started therapy at 2 1/2 years old, I thought there was no

way that he would go back to the room with his therapist without me, as I

was his only voice and he was so attached to me. Instead of telling the

therapist no I simply said if he is willing to try, I am. I was AMAZED when

he went right back with her. I was so proud I started crying!! I did sit

outside the room and listened also!!

His therapist was so wonderful that after their session she would take 10

minutes with me and show me everything they did - how to do it - and what

our homework was.

I'm not saying that everyone needs to have their kids go to the room without

them...I'm saying trust your instincts.

Good Luck - I know this is a hard one for us mothers!!

>

> Hey moms, I really need some advice!

>

> What age do you think parents should leave their child during therapy

> and go to the waiting room or even observe from a two way mirror? My

> child's therapist is pushing hard for me to do this.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Eleanor -

I'm just catching up on email and you've probably gotten a lot of responses

on this already but here are my thoughts. Josh started in PT, OT, DevT and SLT

when he was 13 months old. I used to sit in on his PT sessions and would sit in

the corner of the therapy room at Easter Seals. He was not a happy camper

during those sessions - he would cry (I was repeatedly told it was not because

of pain), he'd yell, etc., etc. The first couple of sessions I sat there and

cried (not out loud but tears were coming down my cheeks). At the third

session, I didn't cry but the PT could clearly see my worry and concern. At the

fourth session, she suggested I sit in the foyer because she felt that, even if

Josh couldn't see my face, he knew I was there and was either reacting to my

presence or knew he could always maneuver his way over to me for comfort rather

than developing a relationship with the therapist (he wasn't crawling - he

rolled at that age). The fifth session I sat in the foyer

and listened to him yelling and crying (he was pretty loud ;-)!) and I sat

there crying myself (being comforted by the director!). The sixth session, the

crying (for both of us) was less, and by the seventh and eight sessions, there

was no crying or yelling at all - and he was relating to the therapist better

and starting to accomplish some of the goals we had set. OT, DevT, and SLT were

all in our house at that time. I stayed in the room during therapy for the

first few sessions but I noticed Josh would pay attention to me and look to me

for approval rather than focusing on the therapist. I started staying in the

kitchen or something so that I could hear what was going on in order to carry it

over into what we would do with Josh ourselves - and he did just fine.

It was harder for me to leave the sessions than it was for Josh to not have

me there - and, ultimately, it was better for him to not have me there. I think

it helped him develop a relationship with each of the therapists so that she/he

could get from him as much as possible and so that he could really focus on what

he was doing in the session. I needed to stay on top of what the therapists

were doing, though, so that I could continue working at home. I also think it

helped him with having a sense of independence (maybe a bit too much, now, at

age 6 he thinks he can go anywhere and do anything he wants - hhhmmm).

Just my thoughts.

Sherry